IOA Showing Old Age Already?
Joe Lane reports that Spidey's having problems. Is it just bad luck or has the "deferred maintenance" disease struck Islands of Adventure too?
From Joe Lane
Posted January 28, 2002 at 8:03 AM
I went on Spider-Man this past Saturday. As always, I was looking forward to the experience.
For some reason, the program on the car I was in just wasn't behaving properly, so that half-way through the ride, when we were supposed to turn away from Doc Ock, we didn't. We rode the rest of the ride watching the 3D movies flash on and off as the vehilce lamely turned, the motion hydraulics shut-off.
The bad news is that riding the attraction in that kind of manner sort of ruined the magic of the amazing last half.
The good news is that when we tried to ride for a THIRD time, we were put in a different vehicle and this time, it worked. Despite knowing what went on during the final moments of the ride, the experience became all the more enriching, and the overall feel of the attraction wasn't lost on me.
Even still, is it right for such a thing to happen--what if somebody had been riding for the first time? Does anyone know how often this happens?
From M Scott
Posted January 28, 2002 at 3:51 PM
Considering the fact that I've been on the ride about 45 times and it's never happened, I would say it is a fluke. However, it is a shame that a first time rider gets stuck with a bad ride.
It has nothing to do with old age and everything to do with the ride just being a technological nightmare.
I have been on it well over a dozen times and only one time has the entire ride shut down. It was right at the part where you are levitating, only we were just sitting there. The building movies stopped completely and the ride stopped soon after. We sat for a couple minutes until the ride restarted but only the movies were working. When we exited, we were led right back onto another vehicle and everything worked fine.
They have been slowly changing the Scoop vehicles to ones with a different program. Maybe you got one of the original ones.
If you get to know the ride well enough, you will notice that on most of the rides, SOMETHING is not working. For me, the usual culprit is the water effect down in the sewer. But I have also seen malfunctions in the garbage truck, the garbage truck movie, the Spidey signal, the rat movie and the final water effect. With so many effects going on in there, the only sore thumb in the group was the garbage truck malfunction. Even without it, it is still a spectacular ride.
From Joe Lane
Posted January 28, 2002 at 9:56 PM
Good point. Something I noticed with the program was when you burst into the warehouse: the vehicle is slightly tilted to the right, and it seems to add an extra jerk that doesn't seem necessary.
Another effect that goes on and off every once in a while is when Hydro-Man is fried near the end. A large blast of smoke is supposed to appear to complete the steam effect, and it doesn't always work.
But as you mentioned, despite these minor details and setbacks, the ride always seems to deliver.
I hope they finish adding the new programs soon. I thought they had already done that, however.
Hey Joe and Kevin thanks for ruining the ride for me ;-)
It is a great ride!
From mike Jones
Posted January 29, 2002 at 4:08 PM
Stop complaining
We rode this ride 12 times in 2000 and it malfunctioned once right at the end. We rode it 23 times in 2001 and it never missed a beat...absolutely fantastic ride better than anything that Disney has
Mike
From mike Jones
Posted January 29, 2002 at 4:08 PM
Stop complaining
We rode this ride 12 times in 2000 and it malfunctioned once right at the end. We rode it 23 times in 2001 and it never missed a beat...absolutely fantastic ride better than anything that Disney has
Mike
From Joe Lane
Posted January 29, 2002 at 9:23 PM
Mike. I'm not complaining, I'm being critical. Spider-Man is my favorite attraction anywhere--and the votes on this site show that many others agree. I love Spider-Man dearly, but I refuse to ignore incidents like these for fear that Universal may loosen slack on the quality they have kept with IOA for so long. If you had paid closer attention to what I had to say in the first place, then you would have noticed I'm very much Pro-Spider-Man, I'm only concerned about proper care for the attraction. There's no reason to be snappy.
And Jason, get over it. ;-) I'm just playing with ya!
I've also heard some comments of the material fading on jurasic park.Is this true?
From Joe Lane
Posted January 30, 2002 at 1:36 PM
Yes, actually. The dinos can't seem to handle the elements of Florida for some reason.
As a matter of fact, on the same visit this past weekend, I noticed that the gates no longer open near the beginning and the hadrysaur (or however its spelled) is also malfunctioning to where the effect isn't even used.
JP has been notorious for having "injured" dinos for a while. Maybe there's a way to fix it for good?
On my last visit to IOA two week ago everything was working on Jurassic Park. I also noticed the Dinosaur got new Skin, and they were moving with more Live like, I couldn't believe it because everything was working
From Anonymous
Posted January 30, 2002 at 7:46 PM
ive been on spiderman atleast 45 times... out of all those times, it has broken on us about 9 times... am i the only one who thinks sitting in the front row makes spidey a little blurry? i dont know... i like the back.....
bout JP... (the dino humping the water) the thing that dosnt work is that thing that knocks your boat off course... without that effect your just wondering.... (if its your 1st time) hmmmm.... why did we go this way instead of that way.....
Am i the only one annoyed by Dudley do Right.... When you exit the raft you hear. AND SO OUR HERO PROVES, A MOUNTY ALWAYS GETS HIS MAN, BUT NOT ALWAYS HIS GIRL.... I go insane cause they play it atleast 10 times while your getting off the raft....
Also... i was thinking and there is going to be an attraction in JP next.... i think that because when your heading towards Deuling Dragons from JP... you c a path that goes no where... It has gates and everything... my guess is that if theres dirt back there, and plenty of land.. i betcha thats where the next attraction @ IOA will go.
hmmmmm.... lemme find something else to complain about.... haha j/k...
Over at universal... Theres land between back to the future and MIB... when you get off of Back to the Future... exit to your right. (or at the exit ramp.. head towards MIB) Once your waling down the hallway you go down this ramp and look through the bushes you see a buncha trailers and space for yet another attraction at universal....
ALMOST 4 GOT... Does JP run in the dark.. i went to IOA when it closed at 7 and it was closed.. im thinking it dosnt for right now because why then over in hollywood they say. (for Halloween Hooror Nights) JURASSIC PARK IN THE DARK... Im just wondering
From Anonymous
Posted January 30, 2002 at 7:59 PM
MY BAD.. almost forgot...
Aother thing that breaks @ JURASSIC PARk is the Box that is suppost to scare the first time riders... i dont even think they care about that anymnore.... it NEVER works when i go
From Joe Lane
Posted January 30, 2002 at 11:11 PM
It's all a matter of show and maintence.
For example, Twister over at Universal. The attraction has boo-coodles of effects, some of which don't always work properly, be it as a safety-cut out or minor problem. Yet, the show must go on, and so using their computer systems, the attraction stays open while skipping the damaged effects. Half the time, you may not get the full show, which is probably why Twister gets such a low rating on the site (course it may have something to do with the long pre-shows, but in any case...)
So the show must go on, and that's what we find with JP and Spider-Man and MIB and many others...
By the way, I agree that the ending to Ripsaw Falls is WAY too loud.
From Bryan Fear
Posted January 31, 2002 at 2:05 AM
I got the JP and JP2 movies that came with "behind the scenes" footage. One of the things they talked about was the movie dinos as opposed to the ride dinos. The ride dinos have a rubbery skin that is more apt to last in the weather, but even so it can not last long. I think the estimated life expectancy was 1 year, but reality was something like 6-8 months. ( The skin used on the mechanical dinos in the movies were too absorbent. Rain just killed them and they had to dry out before refilming. One scene took weeks. ) The skin on the JP dinos on the ride was extremely expensive, though I no longer recall the price. I just remember that most parks could not afford to keep replacing it as often as was required. I'm sure Universal is trying to stretch every dollar as well. In this economy, I can't blame them. Sorry to hear it's that bad and noticeable.
I think the problem with the final scene of Dudley is the placement of the speakers. They really need to be pointed downward so the water will absorb more of the sound. That way only the approaching boats should hear it. MY problem with the final scene is that bush they have growing right in front of the thing. Why hide the conclusion to the whole story you just presented? Because it makes it harder to see that Dudley is patting "the girl" on her booty? Then move his hand!
I also have problems with the missing dinos. Sure it may cost more, but can't they have duplicates to put in there while some are being reskinned? Our first visit three dinos were out being fixed, including the one that knocks the boat off-course. The first half of this ride isn't so thrilling that they can afford to have so many missing dinos. Especially the one that sends you down the bad path.
Since we're on the topic of Dudley Do Right, isn't this the attraction that's had several injuries, due to a "rough" final drop?
Be sure to correct me, but hasn't there been several lower body injuries on this attraction? If I beleive correctly a woman fractured her tailbone... does anyone know if the problem has been corrected?
Correct, Jason.
The "double dip" effect creates momentum that raises you out of your seat, then drops you back down.
If you are heavy enough, you just feel the momentum, but your rear never leaves the seat.
If you are smaller, and you don't anticipate the movement, you can be caught by surprise and lifted up off the seat for a moment, then slammed back down.
Most kids are young and durable enough that this doesn't bother them. But older smaller passengers, usually women, have been hurt on the ride.
The solutions could include belts and/or increased padding on the seats (for those who do not, um, bring the seat padding with them naturally, if you will.) I don't know if they've done that or not, though. I don't ride it often enough to know if they've made a change. And I've personally never had a problem on the ride, so I can't tell if there is extra padding down there.
Besides the padding I've added over the years, of course. ;-)
From Joe Lane
Posted January 31, 2002 at 10:08 PM
Ripsaw Falls is currently in the middle of its annual rehab. Whether they will put some added protection in at this point or not, I don't know, but I'll find out once it is reopened.
Personally, I've never noticed flying up and down, mainly because I was always more concerned with trying not to get soaked. :-) Yeah, like that's possible.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted February 1, 2002 at 12:57 AM
Put in some restraints!
NO RESTRAINTS! The best part of that ride is the feeling that you are going to fall out on the drop. Extra padding is such an obvious idea. It wouldn't even need to be shut down since a log can easily be taken out of commission for one day.
For the record, I don't have a butt so I am surprised I have never noticed any pain.
From Mr. D. T.
Posted February 2, 2002 at 12:13 PM
I blurted it out for SAFETY'S sake, and because JP and Perilous Plunge at Knott's have restraint systems. Oh, probably because they have heavier boats and higher, steeper drops. (BTW, Safety is the #1 priority in theme parks.) :)
If you don't want restraints, fine. But what if someone DID fall off, like the woman on Perilous Plunge did last year? I'm just alerting you because that would be a major disaster.
From Joe Lane
Posted February 2, 2002 at 3:39 PM
What we're dealing with isn't somebody falling out due to a steep drop, but something else that's unique to Do-Right: the double-dip effect after the drop. If somebody busted their tailbone due to the double dip, then they need to add some extra padding to the seats. I don't think restraints are really necessary, unless safety warrents. So far, I haven't heard of anybody falling out of the flumes at Do-Right.
It's kinda neat how everyone is being civil about this topic, if this were some other site, there'd be a whole lot of chiefs and not enough Indians, and this topic would've evolved into a out right flame war....
Even if you add padding you need to find out what aspect of the flume is getting the rider more, "up." Restraints should be already in the flumes, and those are the hand rails inside...
You can have the biggest behind and a lot of padding, and you still can fracture your tail bone, as your tail bone is more superior then your actuall;y behind... so this padding also would need to be placed in such a way, as well...
Your thought got me thinking Jason, perhaps the angle at which certain people are sitting is the issue?
Wouldn't it reasonable to assume that at certain seat angles, a tailbone would be less exposed than at others.
Maybe seat angle adjustment, along with padding, could be a solution.
You could angle the seats, but you'd have to remember that all people have wider behinds, and/or smaller ones.. so it may not be as viable..
Another soultion would be the implemation of some sort of seat belt, but not just an ordianry seat belt, something more fesiable, and something that'd fit into the attraction and it's theme, if possible...
I have all this solutions, yet no one take me serious ;-)oh well maybe in due time..
From Joe Lane
Posted February 2, 2002 at 7:24 PM
Jason: what's your solution? Really, I wanna know.
One of my concerns is keeping clean. Let's face it: theme park water isn't always the nicest water to be splashing around in.
I recall that WDW's Splash Mountain once had trouble with mildew forming on the foam padding on the edges of the boat. And in honesty, the rubber lap bars at the Jurassic Park River Adventure feel kinda icky sometimes.
I guess it's crude of me to want nice, clean boat rides as opposed to safety. I'm not opposed to lap bars or extra restraints, but if I have to wear some nasty looking/feeling "belt" or whatever could be implemented, then I just as well wouldn't ride it.
By the way, you might also want to consider how people are loaded into Do-Right log flumes. The seats are divided into three single seaters, yet people can "lap up" to have two people per divided seat. In contrast, Splash Mountain is seperated into four with two side-by-side. What kind of restraint would we have to use in the type of ride we have at IOA?
It's envolves a type of restraint that'd take care of the patron, as well as maybe, "maybe" be water repallent (sp?) You do this and keep people safe you've got something, as well as making the restraint comfortable and have little or no effect on dispatch times... and this I look at being kinda viable..
As far as sharing what this excatly is... not about to give up something I've been working on for free, I to need to make a living... but once I can share you'll be the first to know...
The kind of restraint needed for this simply wouldn't work. No seatbelt would keep people from that up-and-down motion that is causing the problems. The only type that would work is the type found on the JP River Adventure. But, like I said, those wouldn't work in the Dudley logs.
I think the only way, physically, that someone can fall out of a flume would be if the flume actually maintained a certain speed for a while. Flumes like Dudley and Splash Mountain have fairly steep drops but by the time your body is getting used to the new speed and direction, the drop is over. Perilous Plunge has a much higher drop, but it isn't very steep, so it picks up a bunch of speed. So its drop is more like a coaster's. That's my guess.
Kevin you're right, but we need to look at the obvious, we don't want to elminate that aspect of the ride(bouncing up), we want to make it less forceful.
A seatbelt designed correctly would pad your drop back down to your seat, but you'd also have to look at other aspects as well, which Universal, has had to look at..
Like most problems Kevin it just takes some common sense, and less theory and engineering genius, and that's what it's come down to, the amusement park industry, and the Senators, and all of the people who want to make things safer do, they make something so simple, so complexed and difficult.. and that's why nothing has changed in the amusement park industry...
From Joe Lane
Posted February 3, 2002 at 11:20 AM
Is the simple answer to tear out Ripsaw Falls and replace it with a safer attraction?
Perhaps entirely redo the final double dip? Would such a correction be possible without messing up the ride physics entirely?
Has ANYBODY turned the volume on the speakers near the end down yet?!
Recently, I have seen photos of new track being installed on the final drop of Ripsaw Falls. I think Universal should rebuild the flume so they can put Splash Mountain size boats on the ride.It would allow more room for seatbelts wouldn't it? By doing this, it may increase the rides capacity.
That very well could be what they are doing. Though I don't think the rest of the ride could be retrofitted so easily. Plus, it does cycle fairly quickly.
From Joe Lane
Posted February 27, 2004 at 8:09 AM
Wow. What a flashback...
About Spider-man. This has never happened on my rides and I've ridden over 150 times. There are a lot of misscommunications between the computers every now and then. Maybe the computers on the vehicle and the ones in the control room had a little dissagreement and the car didn't knowwhat to do so it shut down its motion hydralics. I know almost everything about the ride but I'm not 100% shure about this. Can someone clear this up?
Chances are that what is happening is that the ride control computer is getting a signal that says that something is out of place (whether it is or not) and that causes a part of the attraction to cut out. I am no expert in terms of rides like Spidey, but it seems logical that with all the bouncing around and moving that the ride vehicles do, that a sensor would get jostled or that a sensor wouldn't get flagged properly.
Regarding the original topic of this thread ("IOA SHowing Old Age..."): Universal Creative is not currently developing a major new attraction for IOA. My sources report that Universal will not open a major IOA attraction before 2007.
I have a lot of "behind the scenes" footage of the ride. The footage has shown the vehicles going through the scenes and the motion bases aren't shaking around. They are just moving foreward. Another cause of this may be of because the way the motions are programed. If I've heard correctly, the motions are programed through the track and the vehicles scan the track for motion comands. This is why when the ride shuts down, the car still goes through the routine motions as it finishes its cycle. What if the vehicle didn't pick up a comand? One little thing can shut down the ride or any part of the ride. I do know a lot about the ride, so if there are any questions about Spider-man, I will try to answer them.
I've only noticed the attraction break down once. The vehicle stopped right at the end of the fall. However I took the oppurtunity to see all the screens and other special effects which left me thinking "so thats how they done it".
The load and unload stations don't always dispatch on time. Usually, when you are at the last four scenes and you stop, the stations are not dispatching fast enough. Therefore, the cars stack up. This happens mostly on busy days. However, it could've just been that the ride shut down. If anyone is wondering, here is when the ride breakes down a lot. Mostly in the morning because they work it hard from 3 A.M. to closing time. Expect it to go down in the evening and at night. This is also because the computers have been working all day. If it breaks down on your ride, look around for the special effects and cameras. When another vehicle is visible, take a close look at it. You can learn a lot this way. This doesn't have anything to do with Spider-man, but can someone tell me how to post an article. I've tried three times and the submit button doesn't work.
From steve lee
Posted March 7, 2004 at 6:40 PM
Heck yeah. It's just as fun to ride Spidey with the glasses off just looking at everything that's going on around you. Of course, I wouldn't do that the first time through, but on the third or fourth ride it's fascinating to just spend the whole time looking at the ceiling trying to figure out exactly how the ride technology works.
From Joe Lane
Posted March 7, 2004 at 7:12 PM
I'm pretty knowledgable on how the ride operates, I was just trying to understand why, at the time, the computers were failing the SCOOP vehicles halfway through the ride. Naturally, the thread is two years old now--the SCOOPs run just as fine today as they did park opening... some effects work as they should, some don't. I still tense up at that moment, however, thinking the vehicle may not turn in time, but it hasn't disappointed since.
I guess extended load times for the SCOOPs could cause trouble for the ride system during the finale, but it doesn't explain why the ride would malfunction midway through. Still, it's appreciated.
In fact, all this information is greatly appreciated--don't think I take it for granted, folks, the insight and details are very important and what make TPI worthwhile to visit and ask questions.
Speaking of Spider-man, did you folks know the Fantastic Four building makes a cameo? You'll see it off to the left during the scene with Hydroman and Shocker in the finale. I notcied it for the first time a couple of weeks ago--it's pretty cool.
The main reason the ride stops halfway through is because the computers misscommunicate and then the ride shuts down. If the stations stop dispatching then the cars will stack up to no further then the scene after you rise. By the way, the building in front of you is actually a falling wall that goes into the floor.
Apart from spider-man only popeye is sometimes not working (Don't ask me why) but apart from that, I can't notice anything else.
From Joe Lane
Posted March 10, 2004 at 1:24 PM
Keep in mind this is an old, old thread. There are minor details here and there. Not all the effects in The Cat In The Hat ride work all the time. Seuss Landing is constantly repainted, props to the Universal crew on that, but sometimes it seems they just can't keep up with it. Toon Lagoon has been undergoing an extensive rehab, also. It's just the little details. Overall, IOA is a fine piece of work, and as long as Universal keeps on top of things, it works out alright.
This is my favorite article and I hope the discussion does not
close. As long as Universal works as hard as they do now,they will be the best. If a ride breaks down, then it may ruin the fun but it's cool to see how it works. IOA is definately better than Disney.
What's the worst breakdown anyone has experianced on spider-man or on any ride at IOA? (just wondering)
Spider-man, as I said before. Thats my worst breakdown at this park(must have been an off day).
What happened Adrian?
Adrian, you said that there is nothing wrong with Spider-man in park listings I O A, spider-man and then you said it keeps breaking down when your on it. Get your words right!
Two things, 1. Matt, it's posted before your comment, a bit up the page. 2. Mark, It's YOU who's getting the words mixed up, NOT ME! Read my comment CAREFULLY. It doesn't break down every time, and I still like it. that said, the report won't accept any more responses. Unlucy Mark, you can't get me back. HAHA!
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